THE Government will be able to “have a real say” in the development of the country’s natural resources with the setting up of the National Oil and Gas Corporation, an official says.
National Petroleum Company of PNG managing director Wapu Sonk said it was “a major step and a critical change in policy direction which will put PNG in the driver’s seat in the exploration, development and utilisation of its oil and gas resources”.
“We have been a passenger for a long time and when every new project was developed, the State was asked to come on board – when all the development plans, marketing, financing have been pretty much determined and locked in,” he said.
“That is going to change now and Kumul Petroleum will now be able to access early data, sit on the negotiation table with developers and have a real say in the development of our resources.”
The establishment of Kumul Petroleum was gazetted on September 30 and effective from October 1.
It will ensure that “all our petroleum assets are managed through this one entity and mineral assets managed by the sister company Kumul Minerals”.
Sonk said the Kumul Petroleum Act consolidated all the petroleum assets into one entity.
“And the strict guidelines and criteria of board selection, appointments, reporting requirements make the Kumul Petroleum Company more commercial and well suited to allow the company to operate and function effectively in the highly competitive oil and gas business,” he said. The National